December 1978
In This Issue
Explore the December 1978 print edition below. Or to discover more writing from the pages of The Atlantic, browse the full archive.
Articles
"Maybe I Am Easily Scared"
Our modern pilgrim sets forth in search of Worldly Wlsemen who might vouchsafe us a cure for our economic woes. Encountering puzzlements and contradictions, he explores the gloomy Caves of Establishment Dire, survevs the Spires of Oily Araby, discovers the perilous Valley of the Crossover. Along the way he meets Good News John, the Rueful Banker, the Jolly Hoarder, the Worried Multimillionaire. He strives to find the elusive Crisis of Energy, and vainly seeks sanctuary from the Beast of Inflation, which gnaws at the Virtues of Work and Thrift. When last seen, he is adrift in the Sea of Uncertainty.
The Atlantic Puzzler
Washington: Quarterbacking for the Gop
Republican Congressman Jack Kemp is leading his party’s campaign for lower taxes, and picking up many potential votes for himself
Remembrance of Things Almost Past
Southeast Asia: Doing Business in the Third World
Heavy regulation—and hands outstretched for bribes—are slowing down the flow of foreign capital to many countries in Southeast Asia.
A Salesman of Death
On Becoming an American Writer
Not race but culture dominates the character of Americans of all colors—so argues a writer who is young, black, and the Pulitzer prizewinning author of Elbow Room.
A Short Natural History of Nostalgia
It’s an affliction of the spirit—dangerous, but these days seldom fatal.
Truth-Seeker, Half-Naked, at Night, Running Down Beach South of San Francisco
Testing the Teachers: The Dallas Experiment
When schoolteachers say that logical thought is a waste of time, ought one start to worry about the quality of the schools? The people in Dallas worried, and decided to do something about it.
Can I Just Sit Here for a While?
The Gamekeeper
The Monster and the Lamb
One man joined the Nazis because he hungered for power; another, because he thought he was strong enough to prevent the worst from happening. He wasn’t.
Leveling for k.k
In Defense of Elitism
On the Poet Creek
The Coup
Praxis
The Followed Man
The Welsh Sonata a Kingdom
A Reckoning
Always Merry and Bright: The Life of Henry Miller
Criminal Violence, Criminal Justice
On Human Nature
The Wind From America
Faeries
Written in Blood
Jorge Luis Borges
Ernest
The Flounder
Limericks: Too Gross
Seal Song
Byron's Letters & Journals
The Actors Life: Journals 1956-1976
German Artist on the Texas Frontier
